The City of Corinth is giving a boost to starting pay rates for individuals hired to work for the city.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen this week approved a 5 percent increase for the beginning pay of jobs such as police officer, fireman, tax clerk and street department laborer. New starting rates for the sewer department were implemented last year.

“Each employee as they are hired in as a firefighter, policeman or clerk, we have a structure that tells you what they come in making,” said City Clerk Vickie Roach. “Once in a while, the city tweaks that chart.”

Minimum wage increases and a desire to boost the lower end of the city’s pay scale are among the factors that motivated the latest changes.

The new pay for a beginning police officer increases from $11.12 to $11.68 hourly, and the gross annual pay goes to $26,621.28 when holiday pay is included. The starting point for other classifications, such as police officer I and police officer II, also increases. A beginning firefighter’s hourly rate goes from $7.49 to $7.86, but, with overtime, the gross annual pay goes to $24,444.60.

Among other departments, the beginning rate for a tax clerk, administrative clerk, payroll clerk and accounts payable clerk goes from $8.91 to $9.36 hourly; deputy court clerk, from $9.59 to $10.08; and street department laborer, from $7.68 to $8.07.

With the new city budget that began Oct. 1, existing employees were given raises of 3 percent or 30 cents per hour, depending on their rate of pay.

The board also approved an increase in the city prosecutor’s pay from $70 to $75 per hour. The pay rate for the prosecutor had not changed since 1997.

In other business:

• Work on revisions to the beer ordinance continues, and the board tabled the item.

• The board adjudicated for cleanup a property at 308 Lee Avenue. The city already cleaned up household debris that had been piled on the side of the road and was considered a hazard.

• The board set a public hearing on property cleanup at 303 Young Street for the Oct. 15 board meeting.